Stare into the Eyes of the Full Moon
by hatori obsesser
Summary: This is my entry for the Zutara Week event on deviantArt for the day 'Stare'. I do not own any of these characters. They belong to Viacom and to Mike and Bryan. This one-shot centers around Zuko and Katara towards the end. Rated for K . Possible OOC-ness.


After Sokka and Zuko rescued Hakoda, Suki and Chit Sang from the Boiling Rock, Aang showed the new members the Western Air temple. While they were on their way to the all-day echo chamber, Suki noticed several flowers that were on the floor. She stopped to pick up the strange-looking flower and admired its unique yellow-ish color. Suki glanced up to see a large tree that was adorned with the beautiful flowers. Sokka reached to hold Suki's hand, but noticed that she was missing. He turned around to see her looking at the flower tree, and ran to her side.

"That's a nice flower. What is it?" Sokka asked.

Suki looked up to see him carefully tucking one of the flowers behind her ear. She smiled and said, "I don't know, but it's a very pretty flower…"

Sokka reached for her hand and whispered, "Yeah, she is…" Suki giggled at the comment, but she thought to herself, _Wow, could he get any cheesier? _

And at the same time, Sokka was mentally scolding himself, _Could I get any cheesier?! Geez! _

Meanwhile, Aang was giving a tour of the temple to remaining group. He was describing the beautifully carved pillars and arches until Toph interrupted him.

"Hey Twinkletoes, did you realize that we lost two of our members along way?" Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked around to see that Sokka and Suki were missing.

"Where did they go?" Katara asked.

Haru shrugged his shoulders and said, "Maybe they got lost?"

Toph sighed, "No, they didn't get lost. They stopped a while back to look a tree with some flowers on it. I didn't say anything because I thought they would come back, but apparently not…"

Aang's eyes lit up as soon as Toph mentioned the tree with flowers. "Oh! The air lilies! I forgot that they're in season right now!" Aang created an air scooter and started to go back towards the tree. "Come on everyone! I'll show you the air lilies and tell you all about them!"

In a matter of minutes, Aang and the rest of the group caught up with Suki and Sokka. They were in the middle of admiring the crescent-shaped moon and the air lilies when they noticed everyone staring at them. They laughed nervously as Toph smirked and said, "Hey, how's it going lovebirds?"

A gentle laughter from the rest of the gang filled the air. Aang picked up one of the air lilies off of the floor and sighed. "I haven't seen one of these flowers in one hundred years…"

Suki removed the air lily from her hair and held in her hands. "What are these flowers, Aang?"

He smiled, "These are called air lilies. Back when I was a kid, all of the air temples had these trees and we used to climb on them all the time! But I guess they all died, seeing as we didn't come across any when we were at the other air temples."

"Maybe this tree survived because of the altitude?" Sokka asked.

Aang nodded, "Probably. But anyways, the monks used to tell us that these lilies were special. Each of the nations has their own lilies. The Water Tribes have the water lilies, the Fire Nation has the fire lilies and the Earth Kingdom has the earth lilies."

"You're right… A few weeks ago, Hama showed me the fire lilies. They were so beautiful…" Katara recalled.

Sokka nodded, "Yeah, and when I was with Princess Yue, I gave her a water lily."

Toph scoffed, "I never actually saw the earth lilies, but I remember my room being filled with them. It had a nice smell, I guess."

Aang nodded, "Yep, Monk Gyatso always told me that each flower has their own meaning, along with their own unique look. He was probably biased, but he said that the air lily was the best out of all of the flowers. He said that while the fire lily meant 'determination', the earth lilies meant 'growth', the water lilies stood for 'life', the air lilies held the special meaning of 'remembrance.' The people we've lost will always stay in our hearts because we constantly remember them for the things that they've taught or done for us. And whenever we lose hope, we can just look at the flower to help give us back our hope, and it lets us know that our loved ones are watching over us and guiding our decisions."

Zuko closed his eyes and whispered, "Yeah, this is a very special flower…" He thought of his mother and uncle and how he's missed them so much.

Everyone was off in their own little thoughts, thinking of their lost loved ones until The Duke gave a great big yawn. Teo and Haru laughed at the little boy, commenting that he's very tired and that growing boys need their sleep. Feisty as ever, The Duke argued back and yawned once more, proving their point that he was tired. Hakoda and Chit Sang chuckled as the group started to head back. Aang directed the newcomers to their rooms and everyone went to sleep.

A few days later, Sokka, Katara and Hakoda began to act strangely. Zuko and Toph noticed that they were much quieter than usual and wondered why. After dinner one night, the water tribe family wandered off to a separate part of the Western Air Temple.

There, they set up a small shrine and sat there in silence. A picture of Katara and Sokka's mother was surrounded by candles and flowers. Katara looked at full moon in the sky and held onto her mother's betrothal necklace. She gently traced over the necklace's engravings over and over again, while a single tear rolls down her cheek.

Sokka stared at his mother's picture, trying to remember her special vanilla scent that she always had. He smiled as he recalled that sweet aroma.

Hakoda looked at his two children with a smile on his face. He looks at how they've grown up since the time that he left the South Pole to fight in the war all those years ago. Katara has become a fine young woman with a fierce determination, just like her mother. And Sokka has also matured into a fine young man; his unique talents gave him something of a special leadership quality that is most admirable. Hakoda gave a little sigh, wondering how his wife is doing up in the sky. He picked up one of the air lilies next to the photo and stroked the petals. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that there was a very faint design on the petals. This flower had simple curved lines. He picked up another flower and saw that there was a completely different design on the petals. He came to the conclusion that each and every flower had a different pattern, just like a snowflake.

Everyone else besides Aang, Zuko, Toph and Suki were washing the dishes and cleaning up after dinner. The four wondered where the water tribe family were, seeing as they disappeared very quickly after dinner. They soon discovered the family sitting near the fountain where Combustion Man attacked them.

Katara, Sokka and Hakoda all woke up from their deep dream-like state just as everyone else walked towards them. Hakoda noticed the confused looks on their faces and quickly explained that it was the anniversary of Sokka and Katara's mother's death.

Zuko felt empathetic, recalling that fateful day when his mother left several years ago. He felt like she was still out there, and he's determined to find out where she is.

Toph thought back to her parents, wondering how they're doing and if they're alright. As much as she'd hate to admit it, Toph does miss her parents a lot and seeing Katara, Sokka and Hakoda together made the pain in her heart just a little bit deeper.

Aang noticed the tense and contemplative atmosphere and he wanted to make it all better. Aang looked at Sokka and Katara and gave them a hug. "I'm sure wherever your mom is, she's happily watching over you guys." Sokka and Katara gave a weak smile and thanked Aang for his kind words.

Hakoda stood up and stretched his arms. "He's right, y'know. I'm sure that your mother cannot be any more proud than she already is. You two have grown up so much these past few years and I bet your mother is smiling at the progress you've made." Hakoda paused and looked at all of the children, "In fact, I bet she's proud of _all_ of you. You kids have worked so hard these past few months and you've all grown and matured into responsible adults."

Sokka and Katara looked at each other and nodded. They stood up and walked to their father to give him a hug. Hakoda smiled and felt something poking the side of his stomach. He notices that it's Sokka's sword, "Sokka, When did you learn how to use the sword?"

Sokka's eyes shone as he unsheathed his sword to show his dad. "Well, a few weeks ago I got a master to teach me the way of the sword. And lately I've been practicing with Zuko to hone my skills! I even won the most recent duel that we had!" Sokka's face gleamed with pride at his recent victory.

Zuko agreed, "Yeah, he's been improving. He might start beating me more often at the rate that he's learning."

Toph chuckled, "Oh please, he just won only one match out of the fifty duels that they've had. I wouldn't say that it's _that_ impressive."

Suki and Aang laughed while Sokka narrowed his eyes at Toph. "Why can't you let me enjoy my moment in the spotlight for a change?"

Toph smirked and shrugged her shoulders, "I could, but it wouldn't be any fun for me." Hakoda gave a hearty laugh, "It seems like you've made a good friend there, Sokka."

He scoffed, "Are you kidding me? She constantly makes jokes at my expense and makes me look like an idiot! What kind of friend does that to someone?!" Everybody laughed as Sokka hysterically flailed his arms.

Zuko smiled as he saw everyone laughing, but his smile soon faded away when he looked at Katara. She was still in her contemplative mood and he could tell that she didn't want to be disturbed by anyone, especially by the way that she held herself. She wrapped her arms around her legs and stared at the ground.

Zuko quietly walked over to Sokka while everyone was having some general conversation. "Hey, is your sister okay…? She's been like that for a while." Sokka sighed, "Yeah, every year on this day she gets like this. Don't worry, it'll pass. By tomorrow, she'll be the same controlling girl again." Zuko had his doubts but he had to agree with Sokka. "Alright, if you say so. You know her better than I do…"

Five minutes later, everyone except for Katara and Zuko got up to go back to their rooms. Katara just sat there in silence, in the same position that she's been in for the past half hour that they were there for. Zuko couldn't help but feel sad for her. He knows what it's like to lose a mother at such a young age. But he could tell that there was something more that was bothering her. With the way that she spoke of her mother at the crystal catacombs underneath Ba Sing Se and how she threatened him upon his arrival to the Western Air Temple, she seemed to be hiding something more in her heart. Zuko was afraid to touch her heart, for it seemed to be so fragile, that as soon as he would touch it, it would break. That day when she threatened Zuko, he thought that she hated him, but the days after that seemed to say otherwise. She would playfully mock him and talk to him every now and then. He believed that she's starting to forgive him and that was a relief.

Zuko settled down next to Katara and they sat there in silence. He started to nervously drum his fingers on his knees, on his shoes, and on the floor. After another minute or so, Zuko finally managed to summon up the courage to say something to Katara. "Hey, are you uh, okay?"

She took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, I'm okay, don't worry about me."

Zuko smirked and said, "You know that whenever someone says that, the other person will be worried? It's just like when there's a 'Don't Touch' sign for a valuable object, it's begging us to touch it. Otherwise, it's tempting and mocking us with a smile on its face. But then again, 'Don't Touch' signs don't have faces and they can't really mock us and it's just in our imagination… Aaah, I'm rambling again… I'm sorry…" Zuko sighed in exasperation, he thought that his attempt to try to cheer up Katara had failed, but she started to giggle at Zuko's awkward manner. "Heh, thanks Zuko. I needed that."

Zuko looked around and saw that there weren't any lights except for the moon. He noted that it was getting late and that they should probably go to bed also. Zuko stood up and he offered a hand for Katara. She shook her head and started to get up on her own, but once she put pressure on her knees, she started to fall. Zuko, with his quick reflexes, caught Katara in his arms and helped her stand up.

Katara sighed in disgust, "Ugh, I'm sorry… My feet are asleep…" Zuko chuckled and lightly kicked her left foot to see if she felt it. In return, she punched his arm, something that she picked up from spending so much time with Toph.

Zuko smiled and then he looked at her face. He could see the full moon reflected in her eyes. It was so beautiful, the moon. The cream colored object seemed so full with energy and life.

Katara looked into Zuko's eyes as well. She never realized what a warm golden color they are. All those months before their fateful cave encounter, she had always thought that his eyes captured a sharp, hostile and threatening gold. But now, it seems that they've warmed up. It's like a gold that's comforting, inviting and safe. After Katara realized this, she felt sort of sad. That's something that she wanted from someone else. Sure, she got that from Aang, Sokka, Toph, her father and from everyone else, but she hasn't gotten that welcome feeling from Zuko. She knew that they had shared a bond that day under Ba Sing Se. He could relate to her easily, which was why she looked for something from him, knowing that they could understand each other. At this thought, she felt like crying…

Zuko continued to look at the moon through her eyes until suddenly, the moon disappeared. Tears welled up in Katara's eyes and washed it away. His eyes widened in shock. "Are you okay?" he asked in an alarmed tone. "Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Katara hadn't realized that she was crying until she saw a tear fall onto Zuko's arm. "Oh! I'm sorry!" Katara started to back away, but she felt her legs buckling beneath her again.

Once more, Zuko caught her in his arms, pulling their faces closer towards each other. Zuko stared into Katara's eyes, and saw her ocean blue eyes. _They're nice…_ he thought. And Katara stared into his eyes for the second time. She started to have a warm feeling rush through her body. She slightly smiled and thought that it's probably because he's holding her. They were staring into each other's eyes for quite a while before they realized that they were doing so.

Zuko smirked and asked, "So, should I carry you back to your room since your feet are still asleep?"

Startled, Katara backed away again, and was able to stand on her own. It was plain to see that she was flustered and she blushed profusely.

She fixed him with a withering stare, but in a playful way. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Zuko laughed as Katara turned around and started to walk back to her room. Zuko followed suit, smiling at the fact that he felt that they've become closer.

Katara could hear Zuko's footsteps behind her. They were something that she's grown accustomed to hearing over the past few months when he was chasing their group, but now, it was something new. It had a different reasoning behind it, but she wasn't sure what it was. Whatever it is, Katara felt safe to know that she'll hear it more and more.


End file.
